Year of the Comet (1992)

An auctioneer's daughter and a rich buyer's emissary fall for each other while trying to keep a rare wine out of the hands of evil doers.

Director:

Peter Yates

Writer:

William Goldman

Stars:

Penelope Ann Miller, Tim Daly, Louis Jourdan

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Penelope Ann Miller	...	Margaret Harwood
Tim Daly	...	Oliver Plexico
Louis Jourdan	...	Philippe
Art Malik	...	Nico
Ian Richardson	...	Sir Mason Harwood
Ian McNeice	...	Ian
Tim Bentinck	...	Richard Harwood (as Timothy Bentinck)
Julia McCarthy	...	Landlady
Jacques Mathou	...	Doctor Roget
Arturo Venegas	...	Luis
Chapman Roberts	...	John
Nick Brimble	...	Jamie
Andrew Robertson	...	Scottish Farmer
Shane Rimmer	...	T.T. Kelleher
Nicholas Ward Jackson	...	Snobbish Wine Taster

Storyline

What seemed to be a simple little trip becomes an international chase, when an extremely rare bottle of wine's discovered (bottled during the appearance of the Great Comet of 1811). Margaret Harwood's sent to retrieve it so it can be auctioned. Oliver Plexico is her travel guide/bodyguard, because there's other people who desperately want this bottle, and they'll stop at nothing to get it.

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Plot Keywords:

auction | growth hormone | wine tasting | rock climbing | wine | 

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Taglines:

She's mad about wine, he's mad about women - together they've got a lot of bottle. (British video cover)

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Romance | Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for a scene of sensuality

Did You Know?

Trivia

Oscar winning composer John Barry wrote a score for the film, but it was rejected and a new one written by Hummie Mann was subsequently commissioned.

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Goofs

When Margaret Harwood goes to the MacPherson Castle and encounters Philippe in the shots showing Margaret's face, you can see a hair stuck up on her head. When Philippe's face is shown you can see Margaret's hair is back in place.

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Quotes

[Sir Mason and Richard are discussing the winery's business dealings. Margaret has come in after cleaning up from the last tasting]
Margaret Harwood: Everything is cleaned up, Father.
Sir Mason Harwood: Thank you, dear. Now, when you're finished with Belgium...
[Margaret remains where she is, Sir Mason looks up]
Sir Mason Harwood: What is it?
Margaret Harwood: Father, please, when are you going to send me on a trip?
Sir Mason Harwood: When you're ready.
Margaret Harwood: Father, I've been here for almost a year. I *am* ready, you know I am.

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Connections

Referenced in Monk: Mr. Monk and the Airplane (2002)

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Soundtracks

EINEKLEINE NACHTMUSIK
Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Arranged by Charlotte Georg (as Lee Ashley)
Published by Software Music BMI
Courtesy of Capitol Production Music/Ole Georg

User Reviews

Death, Death, Death

In his book "Which Lie Did I Tell?", screenwriter William (The Princess Bride) Goldman talked in detail about how this film became doomed after a sneak preview screening ended with nearly the entire audience fleeing the theater by the half-hour mark (or so I remember reading).

While this film isn't as bad as it sounded, I still gave up on it halfway through.

To paraphrase The Unknown Movies website, it's rather hard to tell whether Goldman wanted to ape Romancing the Stone (a much better film, of course), especially considering he has long criticized Hollywood for avoiding original stories. On the other hand, the finished film seemed unbelievably rushed; it's as if I was watching a movie on television that had already joined in progress following a baseball game, or something.

So yeah, don't bother, unless you're really curious. I'll leave you with one amusing thing, however: when I turned off the tape, it was during the scene where Penelope Ann Miller and Tim Daly were in the helicopter as it was spiraling down to its doom; I just turned it off and quipped, "And the helicopter crashed and they both died. The end."

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 April 1992 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Very Good Year

Filming Locations:

France

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$1,350,939, 26 April 1992

Gross USA:

$2,791,515

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$2,791,515

Company Credits

Production Co:

Castle Rock Entertainment, New Line Cinema

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1